Pastor John Lindell apologizes for inviting Alex Magala, Mark Driscoll to men’s conference

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Monday, April 22, 2024

Pastor John Lindell of James River Church in Missouri apologized to his congregation Sunday for inviting professional sword swallower Alex Magala and Pastor Mark Driscoll to the church’s Stronger Men's Conference after a firestorm erupted over Driscoll’s controversial rebuke of Magala’s performance as demonic.

“Let me just say this about the events of this past week. I want to say two things. First of all, I want to thank you for your overwhelming response on Wednesday night. What happened was both biblical and necessary, and the Lord was present, and for that, we're grateful,” Lindell said during James River Church’s Sunday night service broadcast on Facebook, which is no longer available. You can listen to the sermon here. 

“At the same time. I want to be clear … I want to apologize and let you know I take full responsibility for the decision that was made to invite Mark Driscoll and Alex Magala to the Stronger Men's Conference,” he explained. “I am deeply saddened by the division that our invitation has brought to the Body of Christ. That was never our intent. The Stronger Men's Conference is about reaching men for Jesus Christ, and it will continue to be about reaching men for Jesus Christ.”

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The brief follow-up statement comes four days after Lindell delivered a nearly 40-minute rebuke of Driscoll, the founding pastor of Trinity Church in Scottsdale, Arizona, and the now-defunct Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington, for the manner in which he chose to rebuke Magala’s daredevil performance at the men’s conference hosted by James River Church on April 11 at the Great Southern Bank Arena in Springfield.

Lindell contends that Driscoll should have followed the guidance of Matthew 18 to address his dispute instead of publicly addressing the church.

Lindell also defended the decision to hire Magala for the men’s conference and described him as a bonafide born-again Christian and family man who is married with children.

Magala, 34, has since confirmed he is married to photographer Yulia Prokhorova. He denied Lindell’s claim that he was born-again and said he had no children.

"After watching a video yesterday from John Lindell, explaining and just defending me, I just wanted to clear some details. First of all, I have no kids. I have a family; I have no kids yet. So, that's number one," he said.  

"And secondly, some sources say that I was saved by God around 10 years ago, which is not correct because I'm an Orthodox Christian," he continued. "Orthodox Christian means that I get through the ceremony of becoming a Christian as a baby. So pretty much all my family is an Orthodox Christian, and me as well."

Lindell claimed in his rebuke that even though Driscoll was aware of Magala’s “born-again” status, he accused Magala of being under the influence of a Jezebel spirit. The Missouri pastor also alleged that Driscoll accused his son, Brandon, of “a list of dark sins,” and urged another son, David, to take control of the church and separate himself from his father and brother.

“To suggest that a professional acrobat using a device that's been around for a thousand years is in the same category as an erotic dancer is, at best, misinformed or uninformed,” Lindell said. “We stand by the decision because Alex is a believer. I will defend him in the same way I have repeatedly stood by you and defended you,” Lindell said to applause from his congregation.

Much of Driscoll’s objection to Magala’s performance at the church event is connected to Magala’s history as a go-go dancer. In 2016, while Magala’s star was rising as a family-friendly sword swallower on "Britain's Got Talent," a Daily Mail report revealed that Magala had also worked as a pole-dancing striptease artist in Los Angeles and Las Vegas for women and gay men.

“My life is like a movie,” Magala told the publication. “Perhaps you've seen in films when a killer gets a text about his next victim. I have the same story. I receive the address of the club, the time, and the color of underwear. I arrive at the place: lights, music, fire.”

Magala, did not immediately respond when asked by CP if he still did any work as a striptease artist.

Driscoll compared Magala’s performance to a striptease because he removed his shirt before sliding down a pole with a sword in his throat as a part of his performance.

“Before the word of God was open, there was a platform. It was a high place,” Driscoll said at the conference before he was summarily removed from the stage for being “out of line.”

“On it was a pole, an Asherah. The same thing that's used in a strip club for women who have the Jezebel spirit to seduce men. In front of that was a man who ripped his shirt off like a woman does in front of a pole at a strip club.”